AAuthors Margaret Atwood and Lauren Groff agree: It can be more effective to write truthfully about the contemporary world by placing stories in the past or future.
Both writers discussed their creative choices in conversation with TIME correspondent Eliana Dockterman on Wednesday at the TIME100 Summit in New York City. Atwood, who has written dozens of books spanning fiction, essays, and poetry, based her scenario for The Handmaid’s Tale in 17th century New England. Groff defined his latest work, survival novel The Vast Savages, in that time and place too.
Both works deal with issues that women, culture and the environment face today: as Dockterman said, they are “stories about women in moments of survival”.
“I wanted to talk about the modern era, but in an indirect way,” Groff said. “Historical fiction is an amazing way to do that. Each book is from the time you actually find yourself in, whether you place it in the future or the past.”
Atwood noted that the challenge of writing a contemporary story is a general problem for writers. “These times are changing so quickly that it’s hard to get a fix,” she said. “As soon as you write about something in the present day, everything changes.”
These stories can, however, have profound effects on modern society. Atwood published Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, and nearly 40 years later, the novel has taken on renewed meaning following the fall of Roe v. and threats to access to abortion across the country. Many protesters, in honor of the costume in The Handmaid’s Tale, they were photographed filling legislative chambers and protest lines wearing long red robes and white caps.
Groff also spoke of the current and growing threat to books themselves in the US, as groups push to ban books from schools or libraries with content they disagree with. “Banning books is the first step to burning them,” she added.
Groff and her husband are opening a bookstore in Florida, where they have seen book bans grow to account for about 40 percent of the country’s total bans in recent years.
“Talk about a Puritan theocracy,” Groff said with a nod to Atwood: “That’s what Florida is now.” Even the large number of book bans and challenges in Florida alone is not the extent of the problem, Groff explained, as teachers are wary of trying to teach books that might be challenged, whether for LGBTQ+ content, issues of race or otherwise. specific topics. . She added that a certain Florida county banned the dictionary because it included the word “sex.”
“We wanted to be a beacon, we wanted to spread freedom of expression. We are literally in the middle of the state, in Gainesville, Florida, in the swamp, and we wanted to show that we are watching. Was here. The people whose voices are being erased matter,” Groff said. “The state of Florida doesn’t seem to value them, but we value them. We think they are important and they need to be heard and they need to see themselves reflected in the books.”
The TIME100 Summit brings together leaders from the global TIME100 community to highlight solutions and encourage action toward a better world. This year’s summit features a variety of speakers from diverse sectors, including politics, business, health and science, culture and more.
2024 TIME 100 Summit speakers include actor Elliot Page, designer Tory Burch, Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, WNBA champion A’ja Wilson, author Margaret Atwood, NYSE President Lynn Martin, comedian Alex Edelman , Professor Yoshua Bengio, 68th Secretary of State John Kerry, actress Jane Fonda and many more.
The TIME100 Summit was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whiskey and Verizon.
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